ALL THE winter horses are now turned out to grass for some much deserved R & R and a lot of staff are now on their summer holidays as well.

We have a team of about 20 to race over the summer and as soon as we have a little rain we have some ready to run but it is a little quiet in the coming days. Steam cleaning, tidying and painting are the main jobs going on at the moment, so Pond House is still a hive of activity.

A couple new French recruits who will be making their stable debuts in the coming weeks are Karnaval Point and Affection, the latter is still looking for a new owner!

Karnaval Point is a three-time winner in France and was last in action winning at Auteuil last month after which we claimed him. He is a six-year-old gelding by Great Pretender who is related to plenty of winners and he looks a good prospect for winning races over here having proven himself to be versatile with regards to trip, track and ground in France.

Affection is a super little three-year-old grey filly by Bow Creek who has won four of her ten starts on the flat in France, the latest over 1m4f at Salon De Provence in April. She has a handicap rating of 83 on the flat and has run to that level consistently and so is a lovely dual purpose prospect for the summer. She seemed a little under the weather when she arrived so we gave her an easy time initially but she is now back on the gallops, going well and has taken to jumping nicely.

She could be all yours for £28,000 + Vat, so please do get in touch if you would like to know more and own her, email [email protected] or ring 01884 840715 for more details.

Captain Boudet is another new recruit who will be racing over the summer in the colours of the David Pipe Racing Club. He is a seven-year-old grey gelding by Martaline who has won two chases when in the care of Jeremy Scott.

He has form on all sorts of ground but seems to prefer things a bit better and he will be running shortly in handicap chases.

It’s a big week for my son Jack as he has his first two GCSE exams and they are set to continue for the next few weeks. School and studying is probably not Jack’s strong point but in fairness, he has been revising lots.

While he will be concentrating on his exams this week he will have half an eye on Bangor on Saturday where he and his pony, Little Chiefy have an entry in the first 148cm racecourse series pony race.

It is at this time of year that the sales season starts to ramp up a gear and next week we have both the Doncaster Spring Store sales followed by the Horse in Training. Catalogues are out for both and I am busy going through the lots. If you would like to know more about these or are interested in buying a horse, please do get in touch, we would love to hear from you!

Dave Pipe was talking to Richard Walsh